The Witcher: Black and White
What Looms in the Dark?
Marvo rode with haste to the manor of which the notice spoke up. He had to admit, the prospect of his first contract excited him ever so slightly. The road that led him to the noble's home winded sharply to the point where Marvo had absolutely no sense of direction. The only thing he did have was directions and the scent of expensive Toussaint wine.
He eventually came upon the front gates of the manor. The sprawling, intricate iron works of the gate seemed to Marvo intriguing to look at but relatively unnecessary. Pushing the gate open, Marvo led his horse down the trodden road to sizeable abode of a well set nobleman.
The manor seemed four to five stories in height and 60 meters in length. The path forked around a marble fountain portraying a pair of mermaids. The manor's front door was elevated by a set of wide stairs.
The front door opened and a servant in a red silk jerkin stepped out. He gave a short bow and beckoned the Witcher to follow as he turned back to the door. The Witcher obliged. Tethering his horse to a post and ascending the steps to the door. Again the servant stepped out to greet him.
"Witcher, I am Liam. I serve Lord Theod. I assume you are here about the contract?" Liam asked.
Marvo nodded. "Why else would a Witcher come to your door?"
Liam scoffed. "Indeed. Follow." he replied.
Liam led Marvo into the sprawling and rich manor. Every inch was decorated in such a way that gave off a sense of purpose and elegance unachieved by commoner huts and homes. To Marvo, every trinket and bauble was in it's place for a reason. Put there for the purpose of invoking thought like it had with Marvo.
They soon reached the dining room. At one end of the long birch table was the entryway and on the other was a wide hearth with a blazing fire. Sitting at the end of the table, silhouetted by the flame was who Marvo assumed was Lord Theod.
Liam bowed before his master. "Lord Theod, the Witcher is here to see you."
Lord Theod rose from the table and walked to where Marvo and Liam were standing. The man was of middle age and looked as if he hadn't done a single day of hard work in his entire life. Even the lords in the north proved their mettle one way or another.
Lord Theod looked Marvo up and down. "I won't be mistaken in assuming you read the notice?"
"No, Lord Theod. You wouldn't be." Marvo said.
"Good. I have a problem with a creature in the wine cellar. When I discovered it down there, I quickly locked the door and had it barred. Every night it wailed incessantly and it scares away guests and potential suitors. I want it dead, understand?"
"It wails at night," Marvo thought a moment. "Do the wails sound female?"
Lord Theod nodded.
"Damn. Nightwraith, then." Marvo said.
Marvo walked to the nearest window and checked the sun's positioning. Sighing he said. "It's too early. The wraith won't appear until night. I might have to stay here a while if it isn't an inconvenience."
Lord Theod shook his head. "Not at all. We've some wine out from the cellar, would you care for some whilst you wait?"
Marvo thought, it didn't seem like a good idea but it would still be a while before the wraith would appear. Hopefully by then, his advanced metabolism would burn the alcohol away.
"Yes, I believe I will share a drink." Marvo said.
Marvo was sat at the birch table beside Lord Theod. They were brought many different wines with many unpronounceable names. Marvo; out of courtesy for his host, made sure he sampled them all at least once. By the time most of them were sampled, Marvo felt himself becoming tipsy even as his mutations started to kick in.
Liam placed a single glass in front of him with a brown liquid inside. Marvo tried to wave it away, thinking it would send his toxicity over the edge but Lord Theod made sure he drank it. It tasted like regular brandy but something about it was off. It was odd and made him feel strange.
Marvo stood up from the table and staggered forward only to fall to one knee.
Lord Theod stood from his seat to assist the Witcher. "It is only mid afternoon, sir Witcher. Perhaps you should wait it off a while?"
Marvo burped and nodded. "Yeah, probably."
Marvo was allowed to sit on the dining room floor until he felt a little better. When his senses told him that midnight was nigh, he stood up, no longer that drunk. He walked through the house and found Liam standing in the parlor staring at a painting of a young woman in an elegant dress on the arm of a strong looking young man.
Marvo stepped up beside the servant. "Who is she?"
"Lady Angella, Lord Theod's daughter, and her husband Lord Coylan." Liam answered.
"Strange, I haven't seen a hint Lord Theod had offspring around here." Marvo said.
"She married off some time ago. We here haven't seen her since. Lord Theod does still receive letters from her home in Novigrad."
Marvo took a look at the painting. The woman, maybe 16 or 17 had long black hair and blue eyes. Her skin was fair as fair could be but she didn't seem to happy about the man standing beside her.
"Where is Lord Theod now? I need to get into the cellar." Marvo said.
Liam didn't answer for a moment. "He's waiting by the cellar door. The wraith began moaning just a few minutes ago."
Marvo thanked him and walked down a flight of stairs to the large cellar entrance where, sure enough, Lord Theod was waiting. He was wearing a nightshirt and loose trousers. Lord Theod turned when he heard the footsteps echo down the corridor.
"Witcher, it's in there now." Lord Theod said.
As he said that, a loud wail of a female pierced the silence. Lord Theod became quite frightened but Marvo managed to hold the fear in.
"I'm going in." Marvo took a step towards the door.
"Be careful, Master Witcher." Lord Theod replied, stepping out of the way so Marvo could go in.
Marvo opened the door and stepped inside the dark room. He would have to rely on his superior senses to guide him. He closed his eyes and the wraith wailed again, giving him the perfect outline of it's demonic form. The wraith; instead of charging him like regular nightwraiths, backed itself into a corner and screamed louder.
Marvo unsheathed his silver sword and advanced on the wraith. His sight on the wraith became fuzzy as he felt a strange feeling come over him. He quickened his step and slashed for the wraith's neck. As the blade went through, he heard a gush of blood and he knew something was wrong. He couldn't do anything about is seeing as how as soon as he killed it, he blacked out.
Marvo awoke the next morning in a pool of blood. He felt the blood and began feeling himself for inflicted wounds he couldn't see. When he found none, he began looking around the dark cellar. He saw nothing on his left side but on his right was a severed head of a woman.
Marvo jumped to his feet and saw the entire mess. The wraith was no wraith at all, but a human woman trapped in the cellar. Another look at the head told him it was the girl from the painting in the parlor, Lord Theod's own daughter.
Marvo was at first confused, then angry. He turned to the cellar door and stormed out, still soaked in Lady Angella's blood. He ascended the steps where Liam and Lord Theod were waiting. Lord Theod took a single step towards Marvo.
"Witcher, you survived."
Marvo punched the Lord in the mouth, sending him to the floor. Liam took a step forward in defense of his master but Marvo put a hand on the hilt of his steel sword, making him back away slowly.
Lord Theod spit out blood and a tooth. "What the fuck, you dumb mutant!?" he screamed.
"You drugged me, made me kill you own daughter. Why!?" Marvo shouted.
Lord Theod got back to his feet. "That's of no concern of yours. Your contract was kill the creature in the cellar, now it's done! Get the hell out!" he barked.
Marvo punched the wicked man in the gut and shoved him to the floor while Liam looked on.
"Why!?" Marvo asked again, enraged.
Lord Theod sighed. "I betrothed her to a young lord from Novigrad but she refused. I found out she made plans to run off with her lover." Lord Theod looked past Marvo at Liam. Liam looked away with shame. "So, I locked her in the cellar to wait it out until she came around to the idea of marrying Lord Coylan, she told me she'd rather die."
"So you hired me to kill your daughter."
"You know nothing of family, yours abandoned you to be tortured by freaks! You're nothing but the monsters you kill for a living!" Lord Theod yelled.
Marvo withdrew his steel sword. "Whatever I am, I'm still better than you."
Marvo swung his sword over his head and brought it down on Lord Theod's cranium. It broke in two and a river of blood and brains poured out onto the expensive carpet. He then wrenched the sword from his body and wiped Theod off of it.
Marvo turned and looked at the petrified Liam. "You're Angella's lover?"
Liam nodded.
"Go. Bury her with dignity." Marvo ordered. "Then leave this manor and never come back."
Liam turned and ran off towards the cellar while Marvo sheathed his sword and calmly walked out of the accursed manor.